Pedro Martinez Losa: I was emotional and excited at the end of Scotland win

Pedro Martinez Losa did not look like a man having fun as Scotland tried to keep the ball in the corner flag and well away from Austria as the minutes on the Hampden clock slowly ticked down.

Pedro Martinez Losa, Manager of Scotland, celebrates their side's win after the final whistle of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup play-off round 1 match between Scotland and Austria at Hampden Park on October 06, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Abi Harrison’s 92nd-minute goal gave the Scots a long time to hang on but the Spaniard remained entirely confident that his players would see out the win and set up a FIFA Women’s World Cup play-off final against the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday night.At one point he could be seen bellowing from his technical area yet his memories of those final minutes are a little different.“I was emotional and excited at the end but I was pretty calm during the whole game because I was aware the players most of the time executed the plan,” said the Spaniard. “I don’t think we had too many difficulties. We knew Austria would be difficult opponents. I really enjoyed it, to be honest.“We have talked about inspiring people and you felt that today. We believe what we are doing and this was the next level of competing against the best with faith and believing in what we can do."Scotland will have it all to do again on Tuesday night as they face the Irish. A record crowd of 10, 182 were inside Hampden – numbers that eclipsed the previous competitive record of 7804 against Spain in April – with the hope now that it can be broken again on Tuesday.If it felt surreal for Harrison who grew up just on the edge of Mount Florida, the prospect of going to a World Cup is equally outlandish. She was not selected for the 2019 tournament and has admitted that getting to within touching distance of Australia and New Zealand is something that feels extraordinary.“I think you have to let yourself dream,” she said. “That can be important too. You have to feel it and believe it.“The last time this group made it to the World Cup I was nowhere near the level. I watched it as a fan and I felt all the same frustrations that they felt. And now here we are within touching distance of making it to the World Cup and that just feels like an amazing opportunity.“I never thought that it would be something that would happen for me, to go and play at a World Cup. But we are not there yet, we know that.